Fisherman have long used artificial lures in lieu of natural bait to catch fish. Inasmuch as fish prey on various kinds of animals of different shapes, colors, sizes which exist at different depths depending on the location, season, vegetation, type of water and the like, an avid fisherman has a tackle box replete with many different artificial lures.
Inasmuch as the color of an artificial lure should closely match that of the prey which the fish feeds on at that time, the color of such a lure often makes the difference between getting a "hit" on a line, i.e. catching a fish, or not.
Alternatively, under other fishing conditions or when fishing for certain species, a fisherman will desire to use a lure that maintains a certain operating depth, e.g. a lure that moves at or near the water surface or a deep diving lure.
Consequently, since fisherman expect to encounter a variety of different fishing conditions, they often purchase a different lure for each different fishing condition. By doing so, they expect to have a lure which they believe is optimally suited to each different fishing condition.
While artificial lures have provided good fishing results and countless hours of enjoyment for the avid fisherman, the expense of purchasing a myriad of different fishing lures can be substantial. Moreover, increasingly large tackle boxes are needed to house and transport an increasingly large number of different lures. Since fisherman typically carry these boxes by hand, the task of carrying increasingly large and heavy tackle boxes becomes quite burdensome particularly if the fisherman needs to walk a substantial distance to his fishing location.
In addition, certain fish are attracted to prey that possess a particular scent over those that have another scent. The particular attractant scent often varies from one species to another; while still other species are not attracted by scent at all. Therefore, a fisherman frequently applies a scented liquid, such as a scented oil, over the surface of a lure in order to attract a certain species of fish. However, this liquid rapidly washes of the surface of the lure by the action of the lure being dragged through the water thereby quickly dissipating the scent of the lure and sharply reducing its attractant power.
Hence, a need exists in the art for a fishing lure that possesses one or more variable characteristics, such as color, operating depth and/or scent, and therefore could be used to advantageously reduce the number of different lures typically purchased to fish for the different species under varying fishing conditions. Moreover, once this lure is scented, this lure should also will maintain its scent throughout a relatively long period of underwater use.